Visit from Grandma

Grandma (Carolyn) is in town and Josie has been spending lots of time visiting with her and Auntie Kathryn. We went to Kathryn and Justin's place in the city, and Josie went crazy for their dog and cat. So far, every time Grandma visits, Josie hits some major developmental milestone... will the trend continue this time? Stay tuned!

Here are a few pics from the weekend:

Strength Training

Josie's serious about training for taking her first steps. She's building up her leg strength by climbing the deck stairs and standing in a lunging position (one of her favorite poses now) as displayed in these photos. She's also been doing a lot of "downward dog" and "child's pose" yoga stretches to balance her muscle-building. Her balance has improved dramatically over the past week or two thanks to all this hard work!

Walking, with a walker

Wow, this morning Josie started pushing this standing-play thing around.  She went nuts! She pushed it across the kitchen giggling, then I grabbed the camera and took this video of her trip back across the room.  After I took this movie, she used this "walker" to walk from the office to the living room. Then, I turned her around and she walked all the way back again. When she hit an obstacle, she either said "grr..." and pushed harder, or she squealed like someone had taken a toy away. I got her untangled and walking again. What fun! We both laughed a lot.

Halloween Costume?

If you have a great idea for a halloween costume for Jo-Jo, we're all ears!

Look-a-Like... We Found a Winner!

Grandma (Carolyn) at 6 months

Josie at 8 months

Another busy weekend

Now that we get up at the crack of dawn, we easily beat the weekend breakfast crowds. We decided to try Cafeina on Solano on Saturday morning, practically a stone's throw from our house. There were a few customers already there, including our backyard neighbor, the mayor of Albany! I had the BEST blueberry pancakes (I really mean it... the BEST!) and Dan has the migas (cornchips and scrambled eggs with salsa and tortilla). Yum! The regulars streamed in after we got there, and there were a few newbies, like us. We're so lucky to have such a fabulous hole-in-the-wall cafe so close! Josie was a bit squirmy, but I snapped a couple photos, anyway.

The rest of the weekend was a blur... More prep for the winter veggie garden, setting up a bamboo frame for the peas, nursing the seedlings Dan started, picking the beans and tomatoes (still going strong!), weeding, etc. We finally bought an asian pear tree, and picked a good spot for it in the backyard. We also put together a plan for the front yard, ripped out a few plants there, bought some natives to replace them... everything is a constant work in progress, especially now that we have Josie and our backs just aren't what they used to be!

We also attended the wedding reception of an old friend of Lisa's from middle school. All the guests gushed over Josie, but she was frustrated that she couldn't move around (a big group in a small backyard, meant not much space for a crawling infant!). During the toasts, Dan distracted her with the water fountain at the back of the yard. It turned out she LOVES water fountains, and can't get enough of playing with the bubbling water. Whenever Dan moved her away from it, she screamed and reached for more! Since she enjoyed it so much, we're considering getting one for our yard, but she might just scream for it all the time... could be a good idea that went wrong. I wish we had taken a photo, but we'll just have to find another fountain for her to play in soon and reenact the moment.

Last Zucchini of the Season

As the nights grow cooler, it's time to transition to our winter garden. Dan tore out the squash and strawberries to prep for some cover crop and eventually the broccoli, peas, and other greens. Josie helped us celebrate the last zucchini of the season.

Fill in the Blank...

We love the expression on Josie's face here! Do you have any ideas for this speech bubble? (write your suggestion as a comment to this posting).

Typical Breakfast

Josie's breakfast usually consists of eating, then refusing to eat, self-inflicted gagging, more eating with mmmm noises, dropping things on the floor, inadvertently getting food bits stuck to her palms... and in this case, some entertaining sound effects.

She's still not a big fan of eating anything but smooth purees, but she is starting to get the hang of some finger-foods like baby puffs and tofu pieces (when she's in a good mood). On multiple occasions, we have pulled her out of the highchair and discovered star-shaped imprints on her thighs from the baby puffs (shaped like stars) that she pushes off her tray, which then become wedged between her butt and the seat.

Perfect Fit

Over the weekend, Josie decided that this tray was just the right size to sit in while she drank her water. She also figured out that it slides nicely on the floor, like the parchment paper!